What does it look like to bring on a DOO into an already successful and established business? How will you, the business owner, be able to trust someone to come in and take the reins from you? How do you relinquish that control?

 

In this episode I talk with two powerhouses who have joined forces; Emily Williams of I Heart My Life, and her Director of Operations (DOO), Megan Hansell Henderson.

 

I’m excited for you to hear how this powerful combination works in their business, so you can see what is possible in your own business. Whether you are working in the CEO or the operator role, you are going to get to hear about the struggles, the benefits, and get a peek behind the curtain of this business.

 

Behind the Scenes of I Heart My Life with CEO Emily Williams and DOO Megan Hansell Henderson

 

The Business Model of I Heart My Life

• #1 personal and professional development platform for women who know they’re meant for something big
• Help women create more success & wealth with a holistic approach
• Help start online businesses, and create success in mindset, relationships, & health
• Offer courses, live programs, events, memberships, books, podcasts
• Megan has been supporting the business in the DOO role for the past 4 months

What Emily’s Organization Looked Like 6 Months Ago

• Waited too long to hire to support the vision of the company
• Needed a lot of support and help with overall growth, establishing process, streamlining, hiring, etc.
• Doing everything; was starting to get resentful of the business

 

“Even the weakest link in your business doesn’t make or break your business… you do.” - Natalie Gingrich

 

How It Felt for Megan to Join Forces with Emily

• Balance each other out; Emily moves fast and Megan slows her down
• Both ready to move company to next level; was able to execute in a short period of time
• Correct interview process helped to identify a good match

 

Behind the Scenes of Hiring a DOO Emily’s Mindset Before Hiring

• The pain got so great; couldn’t not move forward
• Moved from London to US and had to rebuild company, started to resent how she was working in the company and was not happy with how she was executing
• Figured out what needed to happen to move closer to company vision
• Contacted Natalie and started to map out infrastructure of the company
• Had big goals and visions, just needed people in place to make it happen
• Fear of time it takes to train somebody

 

“I make decisions based on where I want to be, not from where I currently am.” - Emily Williams

Megan’s Onboarding Process

• Started with strategic mapping
• Megan was able to see the big picture vision right away
• Could see vision for Emily as well
• Had live event in January, and was immersed into the company 
• Done more in 90 days than most people do in a year

“The higher level of person you hire into your business, the easier it is to onboard them.” - Natalie Gingrich

 

The Benefits of the CEO/DOO Partnership:

Benefits for Emily:

• Megan was the onboarder for herself and she was able to map it out 
• Strategic mapping process was incredible
• Allowing Megan to be herself and bring her brilliance to the table
• Recognizing that this is a relationship that will develop over time

 

Benefits for Megan:

• Being able to step in and help Emily map everything out 
• Emily empowered me to make my own decisions
• Emily has balance of knowing when to step in and when to step back

 

“As a leader we have to be coachable. Having two way coaching and open communication is critical in the success of the partnership” - Natalie Gingrich

 

The Challenges of the CEO/DOO Relationship

As the DOO:

• Getting up and running and make sure you can take care of things quickly, to get results and prove your value
• Challenged to get to the next level

 

Advice for  listeners who have a hard time trusting and relinquishing control

Emily’s perspective:

• Ask yourself if you are showing up as the next level version of you
• Base your decisions on where you want to be not where you are now
• Evaluate how you are showing up and evaluate if that is hurting or helping your company
• Be honest & real, allow people to give feedback, being able to ask for help
• Be open and willing to get curious
• Leave the manager role behind and step into leadership

Growing a team is never going to be simple. But once you find talented people, have the trust and faith to step forward into your own leadership journey. When you step forward and pull up someone else into your business, you just might end up with a powerful combination like Emily and Megan’s. 

 

Connect with Emily & I Heart My Life:

Website

Instagram    

 

Emily Williams, Founder at I Heart My Life, is a 7-figure success coach and author. In 2010, Emily moved to London. She started writing. And in 2014, she launched her business. She made $442 the first month—and hit six figures in six months. Inside of 18 months, she hit seven figures—a meteoric rise that would be impressive for anyone, let alone a small-town girl from Ohio.

 

Today, she coaches women all over the world, helping them break free of their limiting beliefs so they move forward towards their goals by getting into massive action. She specializes in money mindset, success mindset and helping driven women create a life and business better than their dreams.

 

Megan Hansell Henderson is an Operations Maven who works with CEO's to redefine their mission and vision to bring them OUT of their business in order to get to the next level. Megan believes that by removing the CEO from the daily operations and allowing the CEO to focus on their zone of genius, it allows the CEO to get back their sanity and the company to grow. She has helped business owners maintain balance by drawing on her experiences over the past 20+ years, including 6 years in the entrepreneurial space. A graduate of Rutgers University's MBA Program, Megan has a passion for business operations, marketing strategy, non-profit management, Tang Soo Do karate, advocating for developmental disability awareness and spending time with her family. She is also a Certified Director of Operations.

 

Other Ways to Connect with Me:

Website

Private Facebook Community

Facebook Page

Instagram

This episode was first published at theopsauthority.com/podcast/39.